8:27 p.m. Half the press box was watching the end of the Magic-Cavs game.

♦

8:07 p.m. Forgot to mention Mark Sweeney was in uniform, helping out with batting practice. Is he a coach now?

I'm starving. Who has time to eat?

♦

7:29 p.m.: Two on, no out in the first inning. Urge to clap is surprisingly strong, especially since we're surrounded by cheering fans.

♦

7:04 p.m.: McConaughey throwing out the first pitch:

♦

6:00 p.m. Back into the Dodgers' clubhouse. Russell Martin's got these huge headphones on, looking meditative. A man asks Juan Pierre to sign something, Beast Mode obliges. Chad Billingsley walks by. Virtually every member of the team passes through at some point. Which makes perfect sense, if you think about it.

5:50 p.m. Patrick shows me the visitor's clubhouse. Also small. And dull. But there's Livan, and he's got music cranking. (No music in the Dodger clubhouse when I was in there.)

5:30 p.m. Introduce myself to Dylan. Turns out he is one cool motherfucker. "I have you on my RSS feed!" Sweet. Introduces me to Patrick Cain of ESPN the Magazine. Another very cool fellow. Future "Blog Spot" attendees: Seek out Dylan! (Sorry, Dylan.)

4:40 p.m. Onto the field for BP. Remember that scene from Dave as they go on the field? Here's how it starts:

4:00 p.m. Hit the clubhouse. Chat with the very helpful usher working the door. The clubhouse is smaller than you'd expect. Hey, professional baseball players! Be cool, Orel. Joe Jareck gives some helpful tips.

3:49 p.m. Unfrozen. There is one player on the field, practicing his bunting. His name is BEAST MODE.

3:48 p.m. A stentorian voice, louder than you'd expect, at the back of the press box. I freeze.

3:29 p.m. Greetings from the Vin Scully Press Box. That's right, from inside the Vin Scully Press Box. What the hell am I doing here? Well, if you thought Josh Rawitch (Vice President, Communications) was cutting-edge in creating Blogger Night, now he's positively bleeding-edge in granting some of us bloggers media credentials. Meaning that today, I, SoSG Orel, have access to the press box. And the clubhouse. And the field.

I've never been in a press box or clubhouse of any sort. (The field? Once.) I've never even taken the Dodger Stadium tour. My main points of reference are Eight Men Out and Ball Four. (Josh and his staff have kindly compiled a list of basic media etiquette, so rest assured I do know enough not to cheer in the press box, or to ask for autographs. Especially during an at-bat. That would be embarrassing.)

My primary mission is to get you Joe Torre's pre- and post-game quotes as quickly as possible. Those will go up in separate posts. My secondary mission is just to observe, and to pick up my jaw off the ground before anyone trips on it. Because I want to get used to this.

So stick around as your humble blogger brings you his impressions of behind-the-scenes Dodgerdom. I'll update this post throughout the day, and look for me in tonight's Game Thread. Go Blue!

Some years ago, I shared a tiny press box at Rancho Cucamonga with Rich Lederer on the occasion of Jered Weaver's first professional start. I found the press box rules so annoying I decided then and there I never wanted to be in another one; you must suppress all your native urges as a fan, and that to me is a dreadful chore. But good luck with your maiden run!

ss, that's fine I will ask Phil. I read the post and the comments as you suggested. Still doesn't say if you can bring your own laptop or not. I can assume that's your own, but you know it's an assumption. Like I said, if you don't want to answer and feel the question(s) are dumb, then I will ask others. Have fun.vr, Xei

--photo in the post is of Orel's laptop, in the press box, so I assume laptops are okay (unless they've confiscated it already)

--he also took the picture from the press box, which okays the camera (though to be fair, I don't think it's an SLR)

--the post also mentions "thanks to Josh Suchon for help with the wireless access", thereby evidencing the wireless access available.

I never insinuated the questions were dumb--they make sense. I just was trying to tell you that the answers were referenced as part of the post, so I thought you would have read the post on which you chose to comment.

Yeah, three E's in one name is the dumbest thing I have ever seen in my life. You have to be some kind of a**hole to do that. But I would never say that to Neeebs because there is no malice on this site.

I like singing along to "Don't Stop Believing"... don't laugh... but I didn't realize they posted the lyrics on the scoreboard till yesterday's game ... my ninth homegame of the year... silly me... I'm usually too absorbed watching the players moving around. Man, if your picture of the third base side of the field level was more clear, I wonder if I could find myself in there... my friend got me an I-Talk device for my Ipod. I love it!